Posts Tagged with "#worship"

The goal is simple: to live on less of that which seems so essential (food) in order to focus on the only thing that can truly fill us up, Jesus. Specifically it’s an opportunity for God’s people to focus on “feeding” and sustaining themselves through prayer and a focus on God’s promises......

This year at OSNY we are giving special focus to the songs of Christmas. Of course we will be singing them, but throughout Advent we will be studying them as well. We will examine their scriptural foundations, trace their stories of origin, and mine each meter for meaning and truth. ...

My heart raced. I was sitting in the band room at Lyndon B. Johnson Middle School (“LBJ, All the Way!”), struggling to get comfortable in a hard plastic chair in the old school’s musty bandroom. My hands were sweaty and I closed my eyes, pleading with God in a rapid, unspoken prayer for my name to be called. But truth be told, I wasn’t really praying for my name to be called. No, I was absolutely sure my name would be called. Praying just seemed like the right thing to do at the time, at least to my snotty-little preteen brain......

Great Expectations is a day-by-day Advent devotional designed for individuals, families, and churches. It is available free of charge, for use and distribution as you see fit. Print it. Share it. Email it. Use it....

In 2014/2015 our parishes have grown, more of our friends have been baptized, and our two neighborhoods have been loved with great generosity and creativity. God is so good! Take a look, with us, at the year past....

Whenever I hear the phrase, “People of God” two images are immediately brought to mind. The first is of the child’s hand pantomime. The second image is of myself, at a time in my life where I felt divorced from God and very alone in the world......

We are very excited to share with you an album that our Director of Worship & Arts, Blake Flattley has been working on over the past year: "There Will Be Rest". It is a collection of new music and reimagined hymns inspired by his experiences in New York City and his upbringing in the church. ...

They're here! From Finland!!! If you were at either parish this past Sunday then you probably had a chance to meet Hannis and Petra, our OSNY Summer Interns. If you weren't, allow us to introduce you!...

The movement of this world is a constant melding of minds and relationships. It seems our lives are filled with new information and relentless communication--our devices serving as extensions of our thumbs, tap-tap-tapping away on the touch screen. When looking around, heads are down, earbuds are in and one might notice their emails rapidly filling their inbox as quickly as the N train riders on a Monday morning......

What I didn't suspect was that I was being pursued. God was on my trail because he had already made a deal with me through the waters of baptism and I had confirmed the contract a few years later. I wasn't going to get away so easily......

the goal is simple: to live on less of that which seems so essential (food) in order to focus on the only thing that can truly fill us up, Jesus. Specifically it’s an opportunity for God’s people to focus on “feeding” and sustaining themselves through prayer and a focus on God’s promises. over 72 hours...

“Unequivocably, no.”
This was the answer I gave to my college newspaper when a reporter asked me if I thought the school should establish research-only staff positions. The paper had this section where they’d ask a bunch of random people on the street what they thought about some current issue. Then they’d snap your picture and print it with your answer underneath.Two things:......

H-O-L-D F-A-S-T. I cannot come up with a more concise directive for how to live the Christian life. Summed up in this phrase is Jesus' greatest commandment: "Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37 NIV). Hold fast....

The New Year is all about beginnings. We tend to see this season as a fresh start, a sort of baptism into a better life. We clean out our closets, buy dumbbells, create lists, and make bold declarations about how different things will be. On one hand, the New Year seems to be a time of rejuvenation and change. But as we know all too well, it can quickly become a time of unrest. With so much uncertainty about the future, it’s easy to start asking those frightening questions that accompany new beginnings....

Life is filled with things that bring temporary happiness to a momentary manager. They are here today, yes, but gone tomorrow for sure. Life changes fast and we cannot manage every detail. We do not have the capacity to truly manage ANY single detail because material riches are not ours......

All my life I have sought to control how I live. I became so enamored with control I sought it every aspect of my life. I really thought I had everything under control. Then came my rude awakening. This time around was about a second chance. This time around it was about being still and knowing God. This time around it would be different....